    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book III)]
    [December 10, 2004]
    [Pages 3066-3067]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at Fort Belvoir, Virginia
    December 10, 2004

        Listen, Laura and I are thrilled to be out
    here, and we want to thank you all for greeting us and thank you for
    giving us a chance to participate in this assembly line of compassion.
        First, I want to thank Elaine Rogers,
    who is the president of the USO of metropolitan Washington. Ned Powell--I appreciate Ned for being
    here as well. It turns out that my grandfather Prescott S. Bush was the
    first president and CEO of USO, so it's only fitting that I'm coming--
    working in the assembly line. [Laughter] But I want to thank you for
    your leadership.
        I want to thank Cheryl Hall. I want
    to thank Colonel T.W. Williams, the
    garrison commander of Ft. Belvoir. I want to thank Command Sergeant
    Major Andre Douglas. He reminded me that he
    and I spent Thanksgiving together last year in Baghdad.

    [[Page 3067]]

    So it's great to see you again, Command Sergeant Major. I want to thank
    Mary Jo Myers, the wife of my friend General
    Richard Myers, Chairman of the Joint
    Chiefs.
        Most of all, I want to thank all the volunteers who are here. I want
    to thank your spirit.
        So, Scott asked me what's--what are we doing? I said, ``We're
    sending packages to our troops overseas, a package full of all different
    goodies, you know, a little gum, playing cards.'' But you can't ever
    thank the troops enough. This is one way of saying America appreciates
    your service to freedom and peace and our security. You can't put enough
    playing cards in there; you can't put enough sticks of gum.
        But I hope our troops understand that with this package comes a lot
    of support and a lot of affection from not only a husband or a wife or a
    mom or a dad but, equally important, an average citizen who you never
    met, somebody who deeply appreciates your service, somebody who
    understands the mission, and somebody who stands solidly with you as you
    work to make the world a better place.
        I know it's hard for our families--military families to be separated
    from a loved one during any time but, in particular, during the holiday
    season. And so we ask for God's blessings, not only on our troops who
    are overseas, but we ask for the Lord's blessings on our family members.
        This is--this whole operation here is cranking out a lot of care
    packages. So far, 480,000 soldiers overseas have received a care
    package. And with it, as I said, is a message of good will and hope.
    We're--this is an historic time we live in. The world is changing. And
    as it changes, as the world becomes more free, America becomes more
    secure and the peace we all long for becomes more real.
        And so during these holiday seasons, we thank our blessings, and one
    of the greatest blessings of all is the United States military and their
    families. Thank you for having us. I look forward to coming by to thank
    each of you.
        Our intention here is not to stop progress but to encourage
    progress. [Laughter] Thanks for your hard work. If any of our fellow
    citizens are interested to know how you can help, there's a web page set
    up at the Defense Department and/or at the USA Freedom Corps for ways to
    help the USO or any other organization that supports our United States
    military.
        God bless you all, and thanks for letting us come by.

    Note: The President spoke at 2:08 p.m. in the USO warehouse. In his
    remarks, he referred to Edward A. Powell, Jr., president and chief
    executive officer, United Service Organizations, Inc.; and Cheryl Laaker
    Hall, director, Operation USO Care Package. The Office of the Press
    Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of these remarks.